Seven-time grand slam singles champion Venus Williams has received a wild-card entry for the Australian Open beginning January 18 in Melbourne.
The tournament said Friday that the 45-year-old Williams would make a return to Melbourne Park 28 years after her first appearance. In 1998, she defeated her younger sister Serena in the second round before losing in the quarterfinals to fellow American Lindsay Davenport.
Venus had announced in November that she would play in Auckland, New Zealand, where she also received a wild card, two weeks before the Australian Open. The Australian Open said Williams was also entered to play a tournament in Hobart, Australia a week later and just before play begins at Melbourne Park.
The tournament said Williams is set to become the oldest woman to compete in an Australian Open main draw, surpassing the record previously held by Japan’s Kimiko Date, who was 44 when she lost in the first round at Melbourne Park in 2015.
In late December, Williams married Danish-born model and actor Andrea Preti at Palm Beach, Florida.